WASHINGTON - A tiny portion of the charges filed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in immigration courts were related to terrorism or national security.

The research group the Transactional Records Action Clearinghouse said in the past three years, Homeland Security charged 12 people with terrorism, or 0.0015 percent of the cases it filed in immigration courts, CNN reported.

"The DHS claims it is focused on terrorism. Well that's just not true," David Burnham, a spokesman for the group told CNN. "Either there's no terrorism, or they're terrible at catching them. Either way it's bad for all of us."

The report said that 114 people, or 0.014 percent of the people, were charged with national security violations, CNN reported.

Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke told CNN the report is "ill-conceived." He said the research group "lacked a grasp of the DHS mission."

The research group, which is affiliated with Syracuse University, said most of Homeland Security's cases were more routine immigration charges such as having an expired visa.